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Patrick Bond Speaks Out Against Off-Shore Drilling Near Durban’s Coast

News of ExxonMobil, the international energy giant, planning to search for oil off Durban’s coast, has been greeted by environmental bodies as an irresponsible move. Although government spokespeople say there has only been an agreement to do seismic surveying, which is an initial part of oil exploration, environmental activists and marine conservationists are not happy.

In an article for the Daily News, Patrick Bond, author of Politics of Climate: Paralysis Above, Movement Below said “the climate crisis could only be solved by leaving most fossil fuels in the ground and revising the way we consume energy through democratic planning.”

Plans by an international energy giant to search for oil off Durban’s coast have been rejected by environmental bodies as irresponsible and counter-productive.

The Daily News reported earlier this month that ExxonMobil had set its sights on oil reserves off South Africa’s east coast, and announced it had acquired a 75 percent stake in the region’s exploration rights.